Monday, January 15, 2007

Poetry Anthology - the saga continues

I gave a shout out for your favorite poems, and while the response was a little light, it was impressive. The weirdest thing for me is that of all the poets in the world who have created all the poetry in the world, you who have commented, have pegged some of my very favorite. It's a bit creepy - or we all had the same high school english curriculae.


Boo - thanks for tuning me into your other blog. It has some great stuff on it. For those who don't know, Boo is hiding another blog http://passages-of-time.blogspot.com/. Check it out.

Jenny - I am trying to do my damnest to get e.e cummings into this anthology of mine because I love him and I like Stephen Crane. I decided to go with the theme of the apocalypse - poetry written after wars which foresee the terrible transformation of civilization as we know it.

Dim - Coleridge is perfect. One of my absolute favs. The romantic era turning into Gothic- thank God! I was sick of those anemic, opium addicts like Shelley and Keats going on about skylarks and Grecian urns. Thanks to God Coleridge got some bad absenth and went weird. Over-sexed exotic people or raving, salt-water drinking sailors are much more fun!!! Kubla Khan and Rime of the Ancient Mariner are the reasons I picked the theme - that and the Second Coming by W.B Yeats.

Sage - This is why we need your voice! When's your next post??? I really love Wallace Stephens and the poem you chose was great. Do you think I can stretch its meaning into some kind of wider, apocalyptic meaning and the ruination of society out a really sad poem about a lady who died and people at her funeral hardly care?

To all of you who did not have a hand in this yet ... get cracking. The theme is the Apocalyse in whatever form you and your poet sees it happening. No hope for the future - or even worse - a future whose prospects are almost intolerable.

And since this needs to be done "tout suite" as they say in Haiti, I probably will have very little else on my mind and my postings are sure to be reflective of this. The more you help, the less I nag!

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

My Poetry Anthology - HELP!!!

So, I have had over a month and a half to put together a collection of poems - not my own mind you - into a collection and then write a 3000 word introduction to the collection making an argument for why I a)selected these poems b)think they go together and are important to be in my selected anthology.

Let me make a confession - and this is significant as a creative writer - poetry bores the shite out of me. I have to go to endless poetry reading and pretend that I understand and appreciate it. I don't really, sometimes, but it is the exception and not the rule. I have to discuss it, ponder it, analyse it, deal with it and it just doesn't flick my bic if you know what I mean.

Here is my idea - you guys help me. Surely, some of you have a favorite poem. I mean, I have a favorite poem, usually people who read do even if they don't regularly buy volumes of poems, but I am interested in your picks. I will put some of them into my anthology and write my introduction about how these poems hang together because they have come from a common, grassroots upswelling that is blog land or some such blah blah like that!

So please! Comment away! I need up to 30 poems for this thing!!!!

~Jody

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

The First List of 2007

When I was working at a certain medical software company more years then I can to remember, one of the things that I looked forward to after we came back to work in the new year, was the annual death poll. I wonder if they still do that? For anyone who doesn’t know what the death poll is, it is a very morbid practice of guessing which public figures are going to bite it during the upcoming year. Associated with the accurate picking of the poor sot, was the bookies odds that were deemed appropriate for the choice. For example, everyone had George Burns on their list before he actually died at like 1:2 odds – not very good. Chris Farley at the time was not a big surprise – maybe he was like 1:3. I don’t really get the whole taking book thing so bear with me. If someone got a windfall – like Phil Hartman, God rest his soul 1:100 – who knew his wife would blow him away? I told you this was a morbid little game. I am bringing it to you. Here is my list of my top 5, no odds, gambling is a sin ;-)


1. Pete Doherty – singer of lousy band called Babyshambles. Most noted for his horrible heroine addiction and his relationship with Kate Moss. Maybe when he goes, he will take Kate with him. I wouldn’t shed a tear. I hate her.

2. Lindsey Lohan – party girl. I have also heard she is an actress. I peg her for a botched suicide attempt. Botched to the extent that she stages a “cry for help” and actually succeeds in topping herself.

3. David Blaine – magician and all around waste of time. You know, I liked David Blaine when he was doing card tricks and levitating on the streets of New York. Now I just am waiting for him to try to get back into the limelight with some other physical feat of utter stupidity. He will have to kill himself to do it though – like that episode of Bugs Bunny when Daffy Duck blows himself up to tops Bugs – remember that one?

4. Ted Kennedy – senior senator from Massachusetts. Because it is time.

5. Peter O’Toole – actor. ‘Cause his best buddies, Burton and Harris are gone, who is he going to drink with?


Anyone else with a list out there?